WWF: No Mercy (pt.2) - November 64 - Nov 21st 2022
 

WWF: No Mercy (pt.2)

One of the things I remember really enjoying the most when it came to this game was the music, more specifically entrance music. I always remember always liking this stuff too when I watched it on TV because it always hyped up the crowd. And it even felt like that in this game, though vastly scaled down. I played with a lot of the characters in the game, but the ones I ended up playing with the most always seemed to be the ones that had the coolest (in my book) entrance music. It just made playing those characters way more fun because from the get-go you know you've got someone cool. Here's just a few that I remember liking the most:

Jeff Hardy

Here's one with a little bit of gameplay so you can see the glory that is this game:



Kurt Angle

Even today, this song is still a bop



And going away from the entrance music, this is just a cool thing to watch:



The game may not have had the best graphics especially when put against today's standards, but there was so much charm and so much creativity to be found within it that the game was truly one of the best on the system.

Goldeneye 007 - November 64 - Nov 23rd 2022
 

Goldeneye 007

Goldeneye 007 is one of those games that no matter when you look back on it, you just remember having good times with it. Whether it be playing split screen multiplayer with your friends or going through the main game, I just remember having a good time going through it time and time again.

Either it was the music playing in the background or simply being amazed at the level design and what had stood before you, the game continuously oozed with originality and has, in my opinion, held up to even today's standards as a beacon for what the genre should strive for. Obviously, graphically the game did not stand the test of time, but I remember going through this game again in recent years and having a great time. I didn't remember over half of it so it was kind of like going through it again for the first time. The level design certainly held up and I would highly recommend anyone play this if they haven't dipped into the 007 genre as far as games go.

Of course, who can talk about Goldeneye 007 without talking about the experiences of multiplayer. I certainly have many fond memories of this particular game because of the experiences I had with multiplayer. It was always fun to go through the levels and find hidden areas to squeeze yourself into, only to be found out by someone right around the corner. And seeing those silly blocky models running towards you to your inevitable demise was not always hilarious back then, but looking back on it certainly makes me laugh. The character models were not always the best in these kinds of games, but I'll take great gameplay and great opportunities for experiences over graphics any day.

The game is basically laid out as one long story told through various different missions, and as par for the course, the game never felt like it dragged on unnecessarily. Each mission felt fully fleshed out and always felt like you were going through one long chapter after the next. Each level also oozed with originality and was always fun to go through time and time again. Plus, the level select screen was cool in the way that more was revealed the further you go. Just a small tid bit that I remember, for some reason. Of course if you were to ask me which level I deem as my favorite? It'd be a toss up because each of them are great in their own way. If I were to choose though, it'd be between Surface (the one that comes after Facility, Runway, and Dam), Dam, and Train. But again, that could easily change if you asked me on a different day, but as it stands right now, I would easily choose 1 or all of these as my favorites.

Along with great level design, you've also got a lot of different kinds of guns at your disposal to take on the enemies before you, and I'm sure we all remember the one that looks like a giant pen. Whenever I think of the design of the guns and how they worked in game, I just remember the big pen gun, as we all do, surely. Not much else to say other than that. Again, just another tid bit that stays in my brain for one reason or another.

If my memory serves me right, I believe there is a server somewhere online that allows you to jump back into an active community of Goldeneye 007 era multiplayer. And lemme tell ya, playing that multiplayer with updated controls feels so natural you think they knew that style of gameplay was going to happen in the future. As I'm sure you guessed by now, the only big drawback of this game is that if you want to play on original hardware, you'll have to fair against that awful controller once again. And using the joystick on that controller for long periods of time will surely make your thumbs hurt.

This is a lot of people's favorite games when it comes to that era of gaming and it's very easy to see why. It's got everything it needs to continuously stand out as one of the best. I mean, even the pause menu music is great:

I defo enjoyed that soundtrack when playing the game in the 90s.

That was around the time Propellerheads were releasing good songs like “History Repeating - feat. Shirley Bassey” and “On Her Majesty's Secret Service”.

Often wondered what happened to them. I can’t find them on social media. If only there was a music detective agency out there somewhere..

Remote mine cheeses are gay.

And Even More Musical Tracks From Nintendo 64 Games - November 64 - Nov 23rd 2022
 

And Even More Musical Tracks From Nintendo 64 Games

There are so many to love that it's hard to put them all in one word jumble so I'm making another post about music that I love from soundtracks in the Nintendo 64 era. Boy, are there a lot.

I mentioned some of the big ones in another post like Dam from Goldeneye 007, and Gerudo Valley from Zelda. Now let's talk about some others that also deserve the spotlight:

Majora's Mask was just a creepy game through and through and it still managed to have some great tracks in it. One of which being the Song of Double Time. Sort of amplifies the creepiness factor for me a little bit because even with it just being a double version of Song of Time, it just sounds creepier.



Of course let's not forget the overworld theme from Majora's Mask, and despite Ocarina of Time having a great overworld theme as well, Majora's Mask's version just feels more complete:



I also enjoyed Termina Field quite a bit more though both Termina and Hyrule Field are fantastic in their own rights so it's hard to put them head to head.

Surprise surprise, Super Mario 64 also had great music. I even talked about it specifically earlier this month so I just want to reiterate that point with this:



It just gives an unbelievable vibe.

Also, who can possibly have a post about video game music and not mention the wonderful theme for Yoshi's Story. This game is just full of little cute things like this but this song is just the exact thing it needs to really set the theme.



Kirby 64 also has some of my favorite video game tracks of all time including of course:



It don't get much better than that, i'd say.

If only there were some website that solely focused on music and the workings of it. Oh well. Guess we'll never know. Goldeneye 007 is definitely up there as far as my favorites on the console altogether.

You're gay.

Mario Kart 64 - November 64 - Nov 24th 2022
 

Mario Kart 64

As is per usual with pretty much any Mario Kart, there's not really a whole lot to say that would cause me to lean either way as far as what I think about this game. Or this series of games in general. They're great racing games with a lot of variety on characters and items, and Mario Kart 64 is certainly no exception when it comes to this. While not having nearly as many character to choose from, evidently as it's on an older system, it still manages to capture what is necessary to make a great racing game and a Mario racing game at that.

I do have many fond memories of playing Mario Kart 64 and at times getting frustrated with either the controls or the races themselves but it was still good fun at the end of the day. I don't really go out of my way most times to play racing games, but Mario Kart has always been the exception as it's always brought something different and unique to the formula that always makes it fun. In this particular game, you can choose to be characters like Mario and Luigi, Toad and Peach, Bowser, Yoshi, pretty much the whole gang. In later iterations of the series this list expanded tremendously, for good cause. But, you have a total of 8 to choose from in this one. Levels are what you'd also expect them to be, excellent. Especially for the time that this game came out, it was pretty remarkable what some levels managed to capture, especially with graphical limitations. One of my favorites has always been the Bowser castle tracks:



Also the music, throughout the game, but also specifically Bowser castle, is of course excellent:



I would also like to point out that while we do have other racing games on the console like Wipeout 64 and Diddy Kong Racing, Mario Kart 64 still stands out on its own, much like the other two mentioned do, respectively. OF course, that could be due to the fact that it's Mario so of course it's going to, and meant, to stand out. But it's also a fun game to play so that also helps.

I also remember Mario Kart 64 having some great game modes, some of which are some of my favorites in the series altogether. Doesn't hurt that once again, I was able to play the multiplayer with people that also had fun with it, so it wasn't usually frustrating to play them, as the game made it fun.



All there really is to say is that I remember having good times playing Mario Kart 64, and while there have been much iterations made since then, it could still be fun for a nostalgic rush to go back and play Mario Kart 64, but there are certainly much better versions to play, and definitely makes it harder to argue that this one in particular is worth going back to. Other than of course the nostalgic rush that I mentioned.

In Conclusion - November 64 - Nov 25th 2022
 

In Conclusion
until next time

With just a few days left of November, I think it's time to wrap up November 64 and brainstorm what I want to do for next month. I have a few ideas circulating but nothing that has cemented itself. It will obviously be focused on gaming, but in what fashion I just don't know yet. I don't think I want to do a console focused one again so soon but we'll see. I'll try to keep this next one more open ended sort of how I did with Video Game Month in October.

This one in particular was a lot of fun to do. I focused on the games that I knew enough about to write about it, and I feel like I wrote about the ones I really wanted to write about, and I'm quite happy with it as a result.

Yes there will be a theme month next month however I do not know what it will be focused on just yet, as well, I don't know how much will be thrown in as far as posts go. Hell, I wrote about more games this month than I anticipated so I suppose anything is possible.

After that, we'll get into the new year and I expect we'll talk about more stuff as the time comes.

See you all next month sometime.

>Here's the index for November 64 in case you want to see what was talked about this month<

I still need to get back into Racer. The vibe is so chill. I think back in the day I got gold medals (or whatever the highest thing) on every race but one or two of the invitationals that are just impossible.

Dude hell yeah, the vibe is always chill, especially when you just get so sucked into the level and everything. Controls have always been pretty good though the remake really makes it much better to handle, given that modern controllers are way way better for racing games. I did the same thing when I played it originally. Some of the later levels are nearly impossible to beat. I remember specifically one that is in the sky and you have to have such a ridiculous time in order to beat it.

Yup yup we're thinking of the same ****ing one. Super easy to fall off the narrow walkways into empty space so even figuring out ways to shave off a few seconds here or there takes a back seat to just not dying even once.

Yep, so many memories of that level. Even in the remake I dont think I actually beat it. Even if you manage to get through the tight turns, you still end up in last place or close to it.

Yeah just gonna pour lighter fluid on my ps4 and toss a match to save myself the trouble. Except **** you you won't win you dirty aliens.

Vampire Survivors
 

Vampire Survivors is an auto battler mixed with a roguelike done in such a way that upon first glance, it wouldn't look as though the game has much to offer. But as most of these games go, you discover the depth this game actually has as you spend more time on it. And while people may be turned off by the retro style graphics, I would highly recommend not to let that effect whether you pick this game up or not. I've not only purchased this game on Steam originally when it was around $1, it also got released on Game Pass, and naturally I picked that up as well. I had to put off progressing on my PC version of Vampire Survivors due to my laptop sort of crapping out on me, so my main source of gaming is my Xbox. And only recently this game hit Game Pass as I mentioned before so there was a bit of a gap with my progression of the game.

As a result of there being a gap in between the first time I played this and the 2nd time, a lot has changed with the game, adding in features that are simply quality of life changes, but we're much needed from its original state. Not to say the original state was bad by any means, there was just definitely more space to grow. I mean, in fairness the game started in early access on Steam so to even see it on Game Pass is excellent on its own merits.

Vampire Survivors as I said before is an auto battler mixed with a roguelike. So, much like Despot's Game, you don't have much control over how you attack enemies, however the depth truly reveals itself once you discover the various items you can use and unlock as well as items that work with other items to progress through each run. In other words, the game comes jam packed with synergies that you get to discover over time. Being one of the most fun parts of a roguelike. And such that, I won't really go into any detail that would reveal any synergies or items because most of the fun is figuring it our on your own. The nice thing is, it's not super obvious at the start what you're supposed to do, and hell, even after many hours of playtime, it still isn't incredibly obvious. You go 30 minutes through each run, collecting experience and unlocking items along the way. It just does so by also taking out the need for having to aim your weapon and having to worry about where you're shooting etc etc. Not that that's a bad thing to have to aim with your mouse or joystick, but it's nice when the game doesn't need it and builds itself around that.

As far as the retro style goes, I actually find that it adds to the games charm, because as much as it looks like there isn't a whole lot going on, I want to reiterate that there really is a lot of depth. And while I've probably put in about 20 hours of playtime on my Xbox alone, no run has been the same, and I continue to unlock items and achievements and eventually will unlock everything. And the whole 30 minutes thing is also not the worst thing in the world when so many other roguelikes have runs that could go for an hour or two. Nice to have a roguelike that is there for when you just want to spend a little time making some progress. It just helps tremendously that the game is also very very good.

The reason I also briefly stated that this is my favorite roguelike since Dead Cells, despite having many good experiences with roguelikes in general between these two releases, is simply down to the fact that I find myself wanting to jump back in over and over and over again. Whether it's due to the fact that I know I really only need to set aside a half hour of my time, or it's the fact that I know I still have quite a bit to unlock despite playing for a long time, whatever it is, it's gotten me under the same spell that Dead Cells had until that game evolved so much to where it can feel like a bit of a slog to go through. I still love Dead Cells dearly but it's definitely evolved a lot since it's initial release. Typical runs can take a little bit over an hour now, and I generally lose focus if a run isn't going the best way. It can be a toss up but that's what ultimately makes roguelikes so much fun to play.

The whole auto battler genre has been seeing a lot of attention lately, and I honestly think Vampire Survivors has done it the best, however I know that there are others that do it just as well. I mean, it seems like we have a new one releasing every other week. But, if my memory serves me right, this is also what happened when roguelikes got really big. Same with battle royale, and now it seems to be the case with auto battlers. I'm all for it though as long as they follow the same trend that Vampire Survivors has now undoubtedly set.

As the runs typically go pretty quick, I don't really know how many runs I have done altogether in my time playing the game, but I want to mention again that none of the runs have felt the same. that could again just simply be due to that I don't have a lot unlocked right now, or I just haven't seen a lot of the synergies, but I have seen how many items are available to unlock, so it may be quite some time before I feel like any two runs feel the same. I do have quite a few favorite synergies already, but again, I will refrain from spoiling anything. Much like Binding of Isaac, there are some runs where you will feel completely overpowered and invincible, and other times you'll feel like you're weaker than dirt. Never seems to take away from the experience as a whole though. I tend to always have a good time, despite the game feeling somewhat difficult at times.

I've only really mentioned the items and the synergies, but I'd also like to talk about the fact that even though I've unlocked about 15 different characters, whom all come with their own unique starting items and abilities, knowing what I know of the game, I know I have not even scratched the surface as far as character unlocks go. I don't actually know how many characters there are to unlock, but I know that each come with their own requirements in order to unlock them. And again, I try not to look up how to do so as I love the randomness of what you unlock after each run.

This game comes with my highest recommendation as I know it will get a lot of flack for how it looks on the outside. But if you're like me and you prefer experiences over graphics, Vampire Survivors is a must play. Hell, any auto battler is worth playing. They're all fun and come with their own unique quirks to provide their own unique experiences. I've not played many of them, hell Vampire Survivors may only be one of two that I have played, so I've got a lot of homework to do. If Vampire Survivors is a good look at the genre as a whole, well, I'm excited to continue checking out this genre as it evolves over time.

Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance
 

Thank you once again to the Castlevania Advance Collection for proving it's worth once again. I recently talked about and played through Castlevania: Circle of the Moon, and even today, I still have close to nothing bad to say about it. It definitely feels odd having played through it again recently because as I'm much older, I feel like I appreciated and enjoyed the game mechanically a lot more than I did previously. Everything from how the character moves around to what kind of combat you'll find yourself in. I still hold it near and dear to my heart as one of my favorite games of all time as well as one of my favorite Castlevania games of all time.

Now, the advance collection also has Aria of Sorrow and Harmony of Dissonance which are two Castlevania games I always sort of regretted not playing back in the day. And playing through them now is proving that point to be even stronger. As far as mechanics go, they all sort of behave the same way, while also bringing in their own differences to set them apart from each other. All good for their own reasons while also maintaining a common theme. However, I've noticed that I am enjoying Harmony of Dissonance a lot more than both Circle of the Moon and Aria of Sorrow combined. While I have not put as much time into Aria of Sorrow as I have with Circle of the Moon and now Harmony of Dissonance, I can definitely say that I am personally getting a lot more enjoyment out of Harmony, and here's why:

Right from the get go, from how the character feels when he walks around, there's something smooth or right about it that makes him feel natural to control. Nathan from Circle of the Moon feels like he has a little bit of weight to him, and Aria of Sorrow while having a bit more of a realistic feel to it, graphically, I find that controlling Soma is a bit more difficult than controlling Belmont. Not only that, out of all three protagonists, I think I like Belmont's design more, for many reasons, though if you have played Harmony of Dissonance, you probably understand what I'm getting at. He sort of sticks out while also feeling like he's right at home in this metroidvania that you get to traverse. Even when it comes to the combat, though I have much more experience with this aspect in Circle of the Moon than I do with Aria of Sorrow, I actually quite like fighting enemies in Harmony of Dissonance, because the attacks actually feel like they have some oomf to them that makes you feel stronger, as opposed to the combat being a sort of hinderance. And unfortunately, as Circle of the Moon has the card system to give yourself different ways to attack, there really isn't a lot of variety as far as making combat feel more interesting, and certainly takes a toll on you over time. Though that can be said for pretty much any platformer.

I've come across a few boss fights already in Harmony of Dissonance, and while some of them have their own unique ways of fighting, I haven't really found myself in too much danger when fighting them since the game gives you some creative ways to go about combat. Like right now, I have a ice spell equipped that transforms whatever action item I'm holding into an ice spell attack that relates to that held item. It's a really neat way to incentivize using different items, whereas previously in Circle of the Moon, if you were holding an axe, you threw an axe. The card system again allowed this to be a little more interesting and creative, but so far Harmony of Dissonance has surpassed that with it's own version of it. So yeah, boss fights are relatively easy compared to other games. I do remember struggling a little bit on some bosses when I played through Circle of the Moon, and again, that can surely be due to the fact that the combat is just a bit more interesting and creative in Harmony of Dissonance

What's even crazier to think about is if you had given me a copy of Harmony of Dissonance today and said that this game came out somewhat recently, I wouldn't have much issue believing you. This pretty much goes for Aria of Sorrow and Circle of the Moon. These games are easily a staple in the metroidvania / platforming genre and I'm sure they will remain to be so for many years to come. Surely that's why the advance collection has been a huge hit but I digress. I'm honestly having so much fun playing through this collecting and experiencing some of the Castlevania games that I never got to play growing up. And man, I'm sure I would have loved playing Harmony back in the day. Because I am having a damn good time playing it now. Graphically, I would honestly say Harmony looks the best out of the three solely due to the cool effects your character gives off when you literally do anything. It's just got a cool vibe and the whole games just feels whole. I've always loved the graphics of these games, and they still hold up, even on a big screen, especially having been released on a handheld so many years ago.

I'm at about the 50% mark in Harmony of Dissonance, so I still have quite a bit to go, but as far as I feel about the game now, I'm having a really good time with it. Once I finish it, which I'm sure I'll do relatively soon, it may take the place of my favorite Castlevania game of all time, just ahead of Circle of The Moon. And that really shouldn't be much of a surprise given that Harmony of Dissonance is basically a follow up though a much more improved Castlevania experience altogether.

Castlevania Advance Collection
 

As is probably obvious by now with both my Circle of the Moon and Harmony Dissonance posts, I like Castlevania games. And when I saw they were rereleasing the Game Boy Advance games, I was stoked. And I got the collection as soon as I could. And boy, so far it has not disappointed, though there have been a few noticeable flaws. Nothing that takes away from the experience as a whole though. I'd also like to point out that while I have done separate posts for Circle of the Moon and Harmony of Dissonance, I am posting this prior to going deep in Aria of Sorrow. Once I go through that game more, there will be a separate post for it as well. All opinions on games are of my current status of where I am with those games, and right now I have enough experience with only Circle of the Moon and Harmony of Dissonance to give proper posts. Opinions may change over time.

Going back to the Castlevania Advance Collection, as I mentioned before, there are but a few flaws that could take people out of the experience, however it doesn't really bother me that much. The one big one is that the mapping of the controls is not always familiar at first, but you get used to it. I know you can change them to what you like, but I don't really want to do that for each game. So I figured I would try to learn it and get used to it, and I'm starting to get it down. Fortunately you don't have to go into your menu all too often in these games, though there are times where you will do so many times. Depends on how you play the games I suppose. Graphically speaking, I am enjoying the look of the games, but I imagine that has to do with more of my nostalgia for the games as well as being far more forgiving of older graphics especially when the games are mechanically strong, which so far with my experience with Circle of the Moon and Harmony of Dissonance, I'd say these games are tremendously mechanically strong. However, the graphics are definitely older, so some may not like that. But it really just depends on what kinds of games you like. If you don't like metroidvania games on the Game Boy Advance fun in general, then this isn't for you. But if you had a great time playing these games and want to relive them? Hell yes this is for you. Not to mention that I honestly think that these games hold up even today. I'm playing through the collection right now and I can easily see these games being released today. Again though, it's all personal taste at the end of the day. Unfortunately though, because it is such an older game or collection of older games, screen tearing is a thing. It's far more noticeable when you want to play in full screen however they have options to set the screen ratio to smaller. And I'm sure it's hardly noticeable if at all in those options. But again, for me, it hasn't hindered my enjoyment of the games so far, so I don't see it as much of a problem as some others would. But it's definitely noticeable if you're paying attention.

On the flip side, while the controls can take some getting used to, it also feels very natural to play these games on consoles, especially when playing it on a bigger screen. Sometimes games don't translate all too well when switching between small and bigger consoles, however these particular ones translated very well. I'm having an absolute blast playing these on my Xbox on my big screen. And it doesn't feel like some lame port, or that they sort of forcibly threw it together. It feels natural to play them on console, and the controls work to its advantage, instead of its disadvantage. Again though, I could easily see these games being released today and doing as well if not better than they did upon original release. Just an example of what makes these games great in the first place.

I also feel like while simultaneously being able to see these games released today, it's sort of an odd feeling actually playing them on console. It's a collection I absolutely did not think I needed however as a fan of Castlevania and metroidvanias in general, it's definitely a nice addition to my collection. And it's just a great collection in general. If you're a fan of Castlevania games at all, I'd highly recommend it.

I'd also like to mention that Circle of the Moon has some of my favorite musical tracks in all the Castlevania games combined. Including but not limited to this one:

Castlevania: Circle of the Moon - Awake

Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow
 

When I talked about both Circle of the Moon and Harmony of Dissonance, my experience with Aria of Sorrow was relatively low. To the point that I didn't have enough experience to even really talk about it. As I'm going through the Castlevania Advance Collection, I'm juggling between both Harmony of Dissonance and Aria of Sorrow since I have enough experience with Circle of the Moon, it being the first Castlevania game I ever played as well as being the one I have gone through many many times. As much as I like Circle of the Moon, I'm finding that I'm enjoying both Harmony and Aria a lot more. It's a shame that I didn't pick these games up back when I originally played Circle of the Moon, but later is better than never.

So what do I think so far? Well, Aria of Sorrow certainly looks incredible from the backdrops of levels all the way to the character sprites and everything else in between. I've heard that Aria of Sorrow is the best looking game boy advance game, or at least it's up there as being one of the best looking, and I'm inclined to agree. Keep in mind I have seen some gameplay of Aria of Sorrow before going through it myself, however I feel like personal experience trumps all when it comes to gaming. As Aria of Sorrow is also seen as the quintessential Castlevania game, I feel like as a fan of the series, it's a must play. And I'm certainly glad I have given it my time as I'm enjoying it quite a bit.

It comes jam packed with new ideas and mechanics that separates this from the previous entries while also being a staple in metroidvanias in general. Castlevania to me has always been like an adventure, and that certainly doesn't fade with Aria of Sorrow, if anything it just defines it even further and refines it to a point that the game as a whole just feels fun to play.

Previously, I had mentioned that based on what I knew of Aria at the time, I stated that I felt that Harmony of Dissonance looked a little better and while I still really like the way the character sprite looks in Harmony of Dissonance, I honestly would say that Aria of Sorrow looks much much better as a whole, and Harmony of Dissonance certainly shows its age. I've seen platformers released in recent years that almost look or look very very similar to how Aria of Sorrow looks, and mix that with a great feeling of controls and some fun mechanics to learn and have fun with, really puts Aria of Sorrow ahead of the other two for me.

As far as the soundtrack goes, I think between Circle of the Moon, Harmony of Dissonance, and Aria of Sorrow, Circle of the Moon would go first, with Aria of Sorrow coming second, then Harmony of Dissonance coming third. When playing all the games again like this, you can really tell the difference when the music in a game like this doesn't feel like it should. Both Circle of the Moon and Aria of Sorrow have a sort of essence with their music whereas Harmony of Dissonance doesn't feel as interesting and well thought out. Definitely the weaker of the 3 when it comes to the music.

Overall, I'm absolutely thrilled to continue playing Aria of Sorrow just as well as I'm excited to play Harmony of Dissonance and finally put these two games along with Circle of the Moon in my games that I have played, and thoroughly enjoyed. I'm definitely having a blast. I can also understand why people hold Aria of Sorrow in such high regard when talking about the Game Boy Advance era of Castlevania, because it truly is the experience you want when getting into Castlevania. And once again, if you haven't picked up the Castlevania Advance Collection, I highly recommend it.

I don't remember if you said you'd already played Symphony of the Night but either it might be time to check it out or go back to it cause it also still holds up. I'm also hoping against hope that they rerelease the DS games on console cause my 3DS's shoulder buttons are dying and Order of Ecclesia is god tier. Also you should check out the Bloodstained series cause they're basically Castlevania games in all but name made by the director of every Metroidvania Castlevania title and they ****ing slap

I have not played Symphony but it's on my list. I have checked out Bloodstained and absolutely loved it. Will have to definitely get back into that. I know it's gotten some updates since I played it last so it may be time to revisit.

Updates? I played it around release so I might have to go back and see what's up. There's 2 8-bit games in the series I never played I should finally check out too.

Either they added updates or maybe I'm thinking that they changed the way the game title shows up. I don't remember "Ritual of the Night" ever being part of the title but my knowledge on that is fuzzy. That's what I was speaking of when it came to update. As far as game updates, I'm not totally sure. But, still worth it to go back and play though.

EDIT:

Nah it was always Ritual of the Night.

I will be checking out Symphony of the Night next most likely. The advanced collection rekindled the flame that is Castlevania and I'm just having a full on blast going through them again.

Looks like SOTN is 3$ right now on Xbox. Hell yeah. Will report back later once I've put a good amount of time into it.

Is that the one that comes with Rondo of Blood? Cause it's supposed to be maybe the pinnacle of old school action platformer Castlevania (or Castlevania 3 or Super Castlevania IV) and I keep telling myself I'm going to man up and beat it like a man but I keep sucking and then giving up cause trying is hard.

You know what?

*chugs*

Imma do it tonight!

The one I bought is just SOTN but now I know I also need to get Rondo of Blood at some point now, too. So far I'm about an hour into Symphony and I'm having a great time. This game really held up nicely.

They're different kinds of game if you're unaware. No Metroid or RPG influence, more like a Megaman game where you have a set number of lives and are trying to memorize enemy patterns and not die.

Rondo of Blood is cool as hell though cause it was from a console in between SNES and PlayStation so it's a visually fantastic platformer. But it's an old school endurance test where you only progress by getting gud.

I played a little bit of Dracula X on the Advanced Collection but not enough to form an opinion. I think I remember noticing the stark difference from the metroidvania style right away so it sort of turned me off a little bit. I'll probably wait until I get through the other metroidvania style games before jumping into X.

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
 

Although it may not be fair to compare this to the game boy advance games, I honestly think that Symphony of the Night is my favorite Castlevania game out of the bunch. At least out of the bunch that I have played. Before I got the sudden urge to play the Castlevania games that I never got to play growing up, my only experience with the series was Circle of the Moon, which I've mentioned before. It's not that I didn't know that these other games were releasing, rather I just didn't have the funds to get the games. I was rather young at the time. Better late than never, though. So far, as I've nearly finished up the Castlevania Advance Collection and now going through Symphony of the Night, I have not been disappointed with any of the games that I've played for the first time. Which is basically all of them. It's actually made me want to compile a list of Castlevania games I haven't played, and just play them. Only one I have actually finished at the moment is Circle of the Moon, however both Harmony of Dissonance and Aria of Sorrow are nearing completion. I just started Symphony of the Night.

It's really simple - Symphony of the Night takes everything that I've loved about the previous games I've played, and puts it all together beautifully in a beautifully crafted world along with some stellar looking graphics that really allows the game to hold up even to today's standards. I've beat one boss so far and I've gotten a pretty good feel on the combat, and even that is excellent. I really like the idea of finding new weapons from killing enemies and sort of customizing your build. The RPG element to this game is really neat and I honestly never would have thought these kinds of ideas would work well in a Castlevania game. Though of course, it's always nice to be proven wrong. Symphony of the Night so far with it's vastly improved combat from the Game Boy Advance games as well as it's beautifully crafted world is really shaping up to be a pleasant experience and I'm excited to get through the rest, much like I'm excited to continue on this quest to beat the Castlevania games that I've wanted to play for many years.

Symphony of the Night also has a great soundtrack, but that should be no surprise given that it is a Castlevania game, but the music really works well with this one. Makes everything feel natural and never feels like a song is being forced down your throat. It all goes along with the adventure. So far, I'd say Harmony of Dissonance is the weakest link when it comes to the soundtrack. There were times when I would be playing Harmony and was wishing the music would just be mute. As far as the other games go, I've been enjoying them immensely when it comes to the music. They always do a really nice job with fitting the music with the theme of the area you're in. Allows you to submerge yourself even more into the environment that you are trekking through.

I am also not surprised to find out that Symphony of the Night is touted as being one of the best examples of a metroidvania / platformer done right. And it's nice to know that it's getting the recognition it deserves. Aria of Sorrow is in much of the same league, and after playing a lot of it already, I can certainly see why. It's really interesting to see the progression of games and how things progressed and improved. And Symphony of the Night is a shining example of when everything comes together nicely. Creating a wonderful experience for the player.

I'm yet again excited to say that I will be finishing Symphony of the Night just as well as I will be planning to finish the Castlevania Advance Collection. I'm playing them all collectively just at different times. Depends on my mood. And who knows, I may actually look for more Castlevania games to play since I'm having an absolute blast with the ones I've been playing recently.

Let's Talk About...Game Awards 2022
 

Let's Talk About...Game Awards 2022

So, unfortunately, I have not watched the game awards as a whole, yet, though I have done some info searching on the big things that were announced, and lemme tell ya, for me, there are a lot of things to be excited about. And while not everything blew me away right away, I can see a lot of potential in some of these that may end up being some really cool experiences.

Let's start off with one that I know I'm going to have a good time with, that of course being Dead Cells Return To Castlevania. Now, I love both Dead Cells and Castlevania, and it's kind of funny how I got struck with the Castlevania bug so suddenly a few days ago, and I've just been playing nothing but Castlevania games for the past week. Then of course we come to find out that Dead Cells is getting a Castlevania crossover, and my mind just blew. Both Dead Cells and Castlevania are respectively their own thing and certainly different from one another, but they also share a lot of similarities in the way that they both work really well as metroidvanias, only one is a roguelike and the other is a much more story based endeavor. Gameplay wise I can certainly see how these two could mix, and who knows, it may mix really really well. What I thought was also really neat about this reveal is that, again, with me playing through the Castlevania games so suddenly recently, I recognized the characters right away, and everything just flowed so nicely. No gameplay of it as far as I can tell, but maybe I'm just missing a video somewhere. I've only seen the animation they released for the reveal, but even that is enough to get the hype going. This one is going to be really interesting to go through and I am certain it will be good given that the devs for Dead Cells are very passionate, and Castlevania is a beacon when it comes to metroidvanias, so they will treat it as such.

Next up is an exciting reveal at the gameplay of Star Wars: Jedi Survivor. As one would expect, the gameplay as a whole is very similar to it's predecessor however there are some obvious enhancements that make the combat feel even more natural and fun to learn. I've played many countless hours of Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order, and recently played it again on Xbox One, and it's still a great experience to go through. Even years later. It's just a good game, though I know it wasn't for everybody. I'm excited to see what the sequel has in store, and if EA can pull it off again by just making a great game. They managed to do a remarkable job on Jedi Fallen Order, and I hope that same outlook and commitment remain true for its sequel. This one has the chance to be very good. Let's just hope they don't mess this one up.

One that I'm still a little bit in between on is Diablo IV. I mean, I absolutely love Blizzard and their creative masterminds behind the cinematic trailers that come with their releases. Even going all the way back to the RTS Warcraft days. So many great cutscenes and cinematics, and still is true for Diablo IV. However, there is also gameplay of this game, and while I have seen very little of it, I'm hoping to keep it that way until I have my own hands on the game. I feel like games like Diablo and Path of Exile need to be experienced on a personal basis. Watching somebody play them is fine and all, but the experience is so much richer when you do it yourself. And games like this are always fun to go through, at least for me. I still do love Diablo III but I have not played it in quite some time. I did play a lot of the re-release of Diablo II and loved it. So, a new Diablo game to turn on and play from time to time will be really nice. I'm excited but not anxiously excited.

I'm going to stop talking about reveals for a second and focus on something that I am very excited about. Y'know, as far as game of the year rewards go, it's all really just subjective at the end of the day. People like what they like, and people like what they don't like. However, in this case I think the game that got recognized for game of the year really really truly deserved it. And if you haven't seen the news yet, the game of the year award for 2022 went to Elden Ring. Again, I didn't watch the game awards as a whole, but I read up on the awards and quickly found out that Elden Ring had won game of the year. Though, at the same time, when you look at the competition it had when talking about game of the year, it's no question that it would win. All the other games on the nominees list are ones that I wouldn't necessarily consider game of the year anyway, so at least there's that. I am certainly happy they got recognized as such, even if I don't agree with some of the inclusions. Elden Ring is my favorite game of 2022, and still remains true even months after playing it. And I still find myself from time to time jumping into it and trying out new builds and characters, and it's just a fun time. The game is absolutely breathtakingly beautiful and well deserving of the crown of game of the year. I am very pleased and happy to see that it won.

Going back to the reveals, or at least takeaway reveals for me, one that sort of surprised me was seeing a trailer for Hades II. Now don't get me wrong, I absolutely loved and still love Hades dearly, and I had a really good time with it. Part of me thinks though that maybe instead of making a full on sequel, just make a really big DLC pack. This game is basically built for that with the way that it mixes top down perspectives with roguelikes. At the same time though, I understand that the developers know what they're doing given that Hades did extremely well. A sequel is pretty cool and it looks really really cool. Not sure if the gameplay loop will be similar to the first one or if it will feel like a whole new game, but I'll be playing it regardless. Soundtracks sounds like it will be of course great, but again, that should be no surprise.

Although I have not played it yet, Stray got some awards for independent game and debut indie game which is really cool to see. Also nice to see that Tunic and Cult of the Lamb got some nominee attention though I would not have been surprised to see those winning as well. Indie developers brought a lot to the table this year, and so many of them are award winning. Vampire Survivors for instance deserves to be up there.

It is nice to see that the new Legend of Zelda game is getting a lot of hype and rightfully so. It won most anticipated game for the game awards this year, and I among many many other people are eagerly waiting for it to release. Breath of the Wild is still tops and one of my favorite games of all time, and I just want the sequel to be good if not better than its predecessor. And it seems like it will be with what we know about it so far. I am really excited to spend some quality time with Link again in the humongous world that he finds himself in. Really curious to see how the story progresses from the first one as well. I also just looking forward to having a really good time with it.

There really isn't much more worth mentioning at least things that I'm excited for. Some notable mentions would be that God of War: Ragnarok got a lot of awards despite it being released so close to the awards show. But, congrats nonetheless. I have not played it yet, and I don't really have any immediate plans to do so, but I'm glad to see it got recognized. I loved the first one a lot. Death Stranding 2 was also teased though it was interesting to see the people's reaction to this one given that the first Death Stranding did god awful. It was seen as a empty world with fetch quests one after the next. And the gameplay style just didn't fit the way the game was meant to play as a whole. Will be interesting to see what they learned from that and how Death Stranding 2 will do overall. I certainly want it to do well, but who knows. Don't even get me started on the Super Mario Movie. I'm sort of on the fence of whether I'm going to give it a chance or not, but I've watched the trailer for it a few times and it looks cool, but also looks really cheesy. I don't know. Maybe I'll watch it purely out of curiosity. Sonic The Hedgehog did pretty well and the sequel did pretty well as well. So video game adaptations can be done well. But, Chris Pratt, Mario, no.

Anyway, that's all for now. Overall some really cool things to look forward to and again, very excited to see that Elden Ring took the crown for game of the year. It really deserves it for so many reasons. I've done a post about it as it is my own personal game of the year as well. So it's fitting that it truly did win that title.

High On Life - First Impressions Review
 

I'm only a few hours into High On Life, mostly due to it being released in the past few days, but I've already had several moments where I had to stop and just look at what laid before me. Though maybe that has something to do with my *ahem* state of mind when I play this game. I mean, the game is literally called High On Life, so it's only right to play the game in its entirety while high. And that is precisely what I'm doing.

The game is created by Justin Rolland whom you probably know from Rick and Morty famously, and even though I have yet to see a full episode of Rick and Morty (besides a few clips I've seen here and there), I still appreciate the style of comedy that is going on there, and it is very much the same style of humor that you will get with High On Life. I do want to find the time to actually watch Rick and Morty but it just never seems to happen. In the meantime, I suppose I can enjoy a game that is on the same caliber if not funnier in some cases.

Yes, you read that correctly. High On Life is a comedy style sci fi first person shooter. Basically take Borderlands as if it were written by Justin Rolland himself. And lemme tell ya, it ****ing works. And it works great. When the game was first teased and we saw the style of gameplay that they were going for, mixed with the talking guns, I though I would get a little annoyed with the commentary by the guns, only because I wasn't 100% sold on the idea just yet. But after watching Justin Rolland in interviews and rewatching teaser clips etc, I started to get a little more excited about the game. To the point that I had it preinstalled for release day. Upon playing it for the first time, it's evident that Justin's style of comedy works really well in a game setting such as this. It completely changes the formula in regards to what developers should do when making a first person shooter like this or Borderlands. And that's not to say Borderlands didn't have some witty comedic moments, in fact I'd say that originally changed the formula as far as these style of games are concerned. But we're talking about High On Life, not Borderlands.

What really seals the deal for me is even when you're just traversing the world around you, the music and everything in the game are there to not just add to the gameplay, but to add to the overall "woah man" feel. And it's done really really well. It doesn't feel cheesy or out of place or anything because along with how funny the commentary is at various times throughout, the game just looks incredible, and a game doesn't always have to have good graphics to sell me on it, but the fact that this game also looks as good as it does only helps it succeed even more. Throw in the fact that it's made by a small team of people, you've got yourself a pretty great game here.

I also think this game came out at the perfect time, not just because people are staying inside more due to it getting darker earlier or the fact that it's ****ing cold here, it's also just nice to play a game that isn't trying to punish you or scare you or frustrate you. It's there to make you laugh. And again, although I have not sat through an episode of Rick and Morty, I have found myself laughing at the dialogue between characters, whether it's your gun talking, or the npc talking. It's written really well and when you choose your own dialogue choices, it can make for some really interesting chit chat between characters, and again, funny dialogue. Add also the fact that the voice acting is fantastic. You can definitely hear the Rick and Morty influence very early on, but again, with a game setting like this and wrapping everything altogether, the comedy just adds to the game. It's honestly got a lot of great things going for it, and it makes me want more each time I put the controller down.

I'm excited to continue on with my playthrough of this game and perhaps once I finish it, I will revise this review and do a full one at some point. I'm definitely enjoying it, and I highly recommend it to anybody looking for a sort of more laid back first person shooter with stellar writing and really funny comedic moments thrown in. It's familiar but still feels unique in its own way. And it's god damn beautiful.

Vampire Survivors OST [pt.1]
 

Vampire Survivors has a killer soundtrack and I can't stop listening to it [pt.1]

I think the last time I listened to a soundtrack for a roguelike was back when Dead Cells was first released and I was just loving every second of it. I still listen to that soundtrack from time to time, hell I've even met the guy who made the soundtrack, and it's still quite good. Vampire Survivors however is on a whole different level I think.

I've talked about Vampire Survivors in this journal before so I won't go too far into it other than simply, if you haven't played it yet, pick it up and do yourself a favor and play just one round. You'll instantly be hooked by the gameplay mechanics as well as the stellar soundtrack that fits nicely in every situation you find yourself in during your playthrough. I want to talk about that here today:

It happens a lot, honestly. Roguelikes specifically have a way about them where the gameplay and the music always seem to fit nicely together. But I mean this sincerely, Vampire Survivors just brings it to a whole new level. Every track that I've heard so far is catchy and fits the theme of the level that accompanies it. Some of my favorite ones are ones that you'll hear in the first few levels of the game, which is just a testament to its quality. It reels you in right from the get go. And for a long time, the music for the first level was a constant play for me:



Then I got to the 2nd level and realized that this was my new favorite song from the OST:



^Lemme tell ya, this was my favorite track for a long time and I constantly went to the level just to hear a good solid half hour of this song on loop. All these songs do it well, as far as looping is concerned. It never feels overdone or anything because you have so much going on in the gameplay aspect that you hardly notice. You just vibe to it, and it's a good vibe. However, despite the previous two being personal favorites of mine, I have another new favorite that surpasses even these 2, and this one is one I will surely have on loop for weeks to come:



^This one in particular I think is one of my favorite tracks on any gaming ost that I've heard in a long time. It's got everything. A good vibe, great instrumentals, and it's so god damn catchy that you can't not listen to it for hours on end. Hell I have it playing in the background on my tv in the living room right now.

Vampire Survivors in a nutshell (Screenshots)
 

Vampire Survivors in a nutshell
Screenshots from past runs

If you're curious about my thoughts overall on Vampire Survivors, you can read that here

Simply put, Vampire Survivors is a game that is far more beneficial to you if you are playing it yourself. However that hasn't stopped me from trying to take some screenshots of some of the crazy antics that tend to happen in a single 30 minute run of Vampire Survivors. Believe me, the screenshots don't do it justice. It's such a fun and addicting game to play and I wholeheartedly recommend it for anyone interested in the auto battler roguelike genre. Anyway, here's some screenshots of some runs I've had over my course of playing this game:

https://i.imgur.com/cGzSXqr.png

https://i.imgur.com/e2D1cev.png

https://i.imgur.com/H9VC9MQ.png

https://i.imgur.com/ZX0I49P.png

https://i.imgur.com/K7NgEQv.png

https://i.imgur.com/opmq6u4.png

https://i.imgur.com/Gd0Tdmm.png

Synergies, synergies, synergies!

That is all.

All updates going forward pertaining to my gaming journal can now be found here: https://www.musicbanter.com/members-...g-journal.html